Ungnyeo in Namdaemun

Gaia in Korea: Ungnyeo was a bear woman who is known in the Korean creation myth as the founder of Korea when Hwanung blessed her with a human child. The ying and yang of confucian gender hierarchy thus locates the woman as of the earth, and man, as of the sky. The notion that the female figure was furnished with a child from on high, establishes the physiological wonder of the womb as a submissive process. Instead, this piece which is situated across the street from Namdaemun, "The Great Southern Gate" and the heart of Seoul. The most prominent of the four, the body of Ungnyeo is composed of buddhist cloud motifs and the center of the massive body has an oval silhouette to signify the womb flanked by two strong inwardly turned hands. The earth woman is then hybridized with the supremacy of the sky to institute the female figure into a role of reproduction versus reception. Within this new iteration of the ancient narrative, the woman animal becomes the most prominent figure of genesis.